Maybe
by Melissax3
Summary: 5 years have passed, and a lot has changed. When Ryoma comes back from another trip, he sees Sakuno again, but things are different this time. Maybe they'll get together, and maybe not. RyoSaku, slight drama. Oneshot, R&R please.


**Disclaimer**: Well I almost forgot this. Anyway...I don't own Prince of Tennis (), because it's a cruel, cruel world...and that's pretty much it.

* * *

Ryoma sighed and leaned back in his chair. His back hurt. The seats on the plane were comfortable, after all they were first class, but still, they were nothing like his bed back home. He was tired of all these trips. He would keep going back and forth from Japan and the US...or wherever his other tournaments were. He kept playing the best of the best, and winning. He also had an agent now, who scheduled all of his tennis matches, and flights. Ryoma couldn't wait to go home. He was now 17(and a lot taller), and he had asked a certain petite brunette girl, who's grandmother happens to be Seigaku's coach, to pick him up, and he made sure she'd make it on time. He'd told her that the plane landed half an hour earlier then it really did. You see, he had finally figured her out after 5 years. Sure, they were still just friends...but that didn't mean he couldn't change that with time. _'If only I was actually going to stop leaving town for these stupid matches...then I could actually have a steady relationship for once...' _He'd had other relationships...plenty of them actually, but they never worked out. He was either to busy or didn't care enough to devote the free time he had into the relationship (not to mention there were a few who noticed his feelings for Sakuno and weren't exactly very pleased with it, and when they asked him to stop spending time with her, he refused. He always tried to shake those thoughts out of his mind, since he had been denying his feelings for Sakuno for a long time). He closed his eyes. He had been missing a lot of his classes, including English. It didn't really hurt his grade at all, but it cut out a lot of his sleep time. _'I might as well get some sleep...'_

------------------------------------------------------

Sakuno grabbed her cell phone. _'Still no messages...'_ She let out a deep sigh. That was just like Ryoma. He asked her to pick him up because he didn't want to deal with his dad, but then he made her come half an hour early because he didn't trust her. _'I can't believe he'd actually think I'd be late! I mean just because it's happened a few times...and just because I was 10 minutes late...he could've at least told me to bring a book...'_ She'd been waiting here for at least 15 minutes now.

"Flight 113 from Albany, New York, to Tokyo, Japan has arrived."  
"Ah! That's Ryoma-kun's flight!" Sakuno said to herself as she ran.

"Oi, Ryuzaki." She turned around to face the person who called out her name.

"Ryoma-kun! But...your flight just arrived, aren't you supposed to be over there?" Sakuno said pointing to a sign that said **"Arrivals."** Ryoma grabbed her arm and made her finger point to underneath that, where it said, **"Flights 80-100."**

"Oh...but how'd you get here so quick?" Ryoma grabbed her hand and spun her around, and she saw a big sign that said **"Plane Exit." **She blushed. Suddenly, a tall blonde girl came running towards him. "Ryoma! Darling, I'm over here!" she said, winking at him. Once she was in front of him, she clinged to his arm and glared at Sakuno.

"Ryuzaki, this is Ashley. I met her in New York. She's a famous singer...or something like that...she knows Japanese as you can see."

"I have a concert here in 2 days, so I cancelled my later flight to go back with my Ryoma..." she said, winking at Sakuno who couldn't help but gulp. _'So he did find someone...'_ She had honestly and truly given up on the idea that her and Ryoma might be together sometime. Ryoma had had several girlfriends and although at first, each new one hurt more, she got over it. They even went out once on a date, it went so well, but right after he had to go on another trip. It was just too hard for her to watch someone she cared about so much, come and go over and over again. They both decided after that, that there was no point in having a relationship. Again, things had changed and now they were just friends...but she still wanted more.

"Hey, Ashley, why don't you go get your bags before someone takes them...?"  
"Oh yeah! Ryoma, won't you come with me?"

"I'll pass." He replied coolly. Sakuno couldn't help but smile a little. Not at his coldness, but at him. He never changed. The girl just flung her long hair over her shoulder and gave a playful smile.

"Okay, but you better wait for me." She said, winking at him one last time as she left, but not without squeezing him into what she calls a hug. Personally, Ryoma thinks it's more of an attempt to strangle him.

"She seems nice." Sakuno finally let out.

"Yeah sure...if you think piranhas are cute. Let's go before she comes back."  
"Ryoma-kun! Why would you do that to your girlfriend?!"  
"WHAT?!" Ryoma practically yelled. "She is NOT my girlfriend."  
"Huh?...but I thought..."

"Ryuzaki, I would never date someone so..."  
"perky?"  
"Hm? Yeah and besides...I don't have time for that." She just shrugged. She didn't know why it bothered her but every time he said something like that, she got really upset. He noticed this and decided now was a good time to do what he had been wanting to do all week. He wrapped his arms around her waist tightly and drew her into a hug.

"Ryoma-kun..." she said as she tried to push her head away from his chest, but he just hugged her tighter. "What are you doing?" He smirked.

"What do you think?"  
"Ryoma-kun...but you don't have the time..." she finally said, pushing away. She turned around and started to walk away. He grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

"AH OCHIBI! THERE YOU ARE!" Eiji yelled as he ran towards Ryoma. Ryoma had no choice, and let go of her wrist quickly. Fortunately, neither Eiji, nor the other regulars saw him do it.

"There's our little ochibi!" Momo said, ruffling Ryoma's hair. The other regulars greeted him as well and he talked to them for a few minutes.

"I know! Let's go get burgers! Eiji's treat!" Momoshiro cheered.

"Yeah! Let's- hey, no wait!" Eiji pouted.

Soon all of the former regulars and Sakuno went to get burgers.

-----------------------------------------------------------

They all sat down at a huge booth, Ryoma next to Sakuno of course, and Kaidoh and Momoshiro on completely opposite sides of the table, although this didn't stop the arguing (not that anything really could). As the regulars began to chat about what they did this month (since they had "meetings" as the called them, at least once a month now), Ryoma grabbed Sakuno's hand underneath the table. She gave a small yelp and everyone looked at her. "Sorry...I just remembered I forgot to do something important..." she lied with a fake smile. The others just continued with their conversations as Sakuno blushed and Ryoma smirked. She pulled her hand away from his so fast that she ended up hitting her hand on the bottom of the table. "OW!" she yelled. Once again, everyone looked at her. "Oh...uh I bit my tongue...hey Ryoma could you come here for a sec...I need to make a call on your cell phone, and I'd like you to show me how to use it, since it's so complicated."  
"Oh, you can use mine, Sakuno." Taka replied.

"No thank you, I forget Tomoka's number and she's on Ryoma's contacts...so be right back." Sakuno lied again. Ryoma just smirked and pulled his hat down so nobody could see as he followed Sakuno outside, around the corner.

"What was THAT?" Sakuno said in an irritated tone. Ryoma couldn't help but smile. She sure had changed since they first met.

"What do you mean?" he asked, antagonizing her to no end.

"What do I mean? You know very well what I mean. Why did you grab my hand underneath the table...and why were you playing footsie with me?"  
"I grabbed your hand because...I felt like it. And it wasn't me playing footsie with you..."  
"Oh..." Sakuno said, blushing. Ryoma was enjoying this too much. "Well...don't touch me...I mean my hands"

"Fine..." Ryoma answered bluntly. Then he wrapped his arms around her waist and placed his lips on hers and she pushed away.

"Ryoma-kun!" she whisper-yelled as she gave him a confused look.

"Wha-hat?" he said in the same annoyed tone as her.

"What was that for?"  
"You told me not to touch your hands...you said nothing about your waist or your lips..." he said, showing her the puppy dog face, followed by a smirk.

"Ryoma, I don't have time to deal with your immaturity, and you don't have time for me."  
"Who said that?"  
"I just did, goodbye, I'm leaving."

"Hey why don't you like me anymore?"  
"Wha...what?"  
"Why don't you like my anymore?"  
"Who said I ever liked you..."  
"You did...I know you had a crush on me back when we first met..."  
"That was then, this is now. We've grown up. Or...at least one of us has."  
"Well it's definitely not you."  
"Excuse me...?"  
"If you were an adult you would admit that you have feelings for me, or at least that you had, and you'd tell me why you don't anymore."  
"I grew up. People don't just stay in love forever you know! I changed!"  
"Why?"  
"Because! That's what people do! They change! It's the way of life!" Sakuno practically screamed, tears starting to run down her face.

"Why...why did you change...?"  
"Because I had to!"  
"Couldn't you have changed and still liked me?"  
"Some people can...but I'm not one of those people...I couldn't...I was weak...I grew up and became stronger...that's what happened."  
"Why?"  
"Stop asking why!"  
"I will when I get an answer..."  
"I gave you an answer! You just want me to give you the answer that _you_ want. That _you_ need, to feel secure. Well I'm tired of it. I'm not just here to make you feel better about yourself...I have a purpose too you know! I'm not just another one of your fans who devotes her life entirely to you! I'm a real person. Not just a doll for you to stare at and use when you want...when you're bored and your friends are busy...I'm a person...a living person..."

"I know, Sakuno..."  
"Stop it! Stop trying to change to make things better...you can't just change all of the sudden and expect me to go back to you!"  
"Why did you stop caring for me?"  
"I...I was tired...Tired of waiting...tired of always waiting by the sidelines."  
"You didn't have to come to my games...I could've seen you outside of-"

"This isn't just about your games! I was tired of being on the sidelines of your life, of your relationships, of everything, of...of tennis! Not everything in life is about tennis."  
"Sakuno...I'm sorry...I didn't know, why didn't you tell me about all of this?"  
"Tell you...tell you? When? When you were off with about a million other girls, when you were playing the strongest tennis players in the world? There was no time to tell you. You don't have the time...for anything...for anyone...besides yourself..."  
"...I'll make time." And with that, he hugged her. It only lasted for a few minutes...but it was good enough for now.

------------------------------------------------------------

Two days later...

"Ryoma-kun, good luck on your trip." Sakuno said, as she dropped Ryoma off at the airport.

"My trip? Try ours."  
"Nani?" Sakuno gave him a confused look, and he pulled something out of his bag and handed it to her. She looked at him with her big brown eyes and he smirked.

"It's a ticket. You're going to come with me...if you want."  
"But...Ryoma-kun, I don't have anything bags..." she sighed. He pointed to his agent who was carrying 2 suitcases.

"Please, do you honestly think I would take THAT much luggage?" he said, flashing her, an incredulous look. She smiled at him.

"But...how?"  
"I asked your grandma to pack your bags yesterday, while you were at my game."  
"But...how can we spend any time on the trip together, you'll be having your games the whole time."

"I'll do it."

"...but you don't have time..."

"I'll make time." He said, looking deeply into her eyes. She kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you, Ryoma-kun."  
"So...about that who "changing" speech...do you really not like me anymore?"  
"Hm...Ryoma-kun I...I always liked you...but it's changed..." she replied. He kissed her on the lips and put his arms around her waist again as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Oh really?" Ryoma said, giving her another trademark smirk. "Because, I think you're still the same shy little Ryuzaki."

"Ryoma-kun! Well...I think you're still the same tennis-obsessed know-it-all."

"Well you're right about that..."

"Oh Ryoma-kun...you'll never change..."

"Maybe...maybe not."  
"Ah! Look, ponta!" Sakuno said smiling. The two of them walked over to the vending machine before the flight. Maybe someday they would change, and maybe they wouldn't, but for now, everything was the way it should be.

------------------------------------------

(A/N): Well I hope you liked it. Again, sorry for delaying Date Your Senpais for this, but I just had to write this. After I got started, I kept writing and I couldn't write anything besides this, but I will post the next chapter for it soon. Also, I only had time to read it over once, and I think I might have missed some mistakes, so if there are any, please tell me, thanks. Anyway, Thanks for reading! Reviews are loved.

Lastly, sorry for the unexpected turn, and I know it was a bit to..fluffy at the end, but I felt like I just had to make a happy ending. It was originally just going to be a bunch of RyoSaku fluff but I changed it by adding some drama. I'm sorry if this disappointed anyone. Anyway, I do hope the drama did at least add some excitement to the story...Once again, sorry.


End file.
